Discussion

The wait is over: Candlenut opened on 1 July, ending a 1.5 year wait among the many fans of young chef, Malcolm Lee, after its previous incarnation, the popular Candlenut Kitchen closed.

The new premises, rather oddly L-shaped and dividing the dining area into 2, at Dorsett Residences is an improvement over its old Neil Road spot.

What we had:- Kueh pie tee: the pastry shells were a bit thick here, but the filling was nice - the grated turnips were studded with bits of plump, very fresh shrimp-meat. The best rendition I'd had in Singapore.

- Ayam buah keluak: the version here was thick and dark with "buah keluak", though I found the spice content (galangal, chilli, belachan, lemongrass, tamarind) indiscernible, or perhaps intentionally toned down by the chef. After all, each Baba-Nyonya family has its own recipe for this dish.

- Ngoh hiang: rather bland tastewise, but the generously amount of waterchestnuts, shitake mushrooms and shrimps added to the minced pork gave the meat rolls here a good texture and crunch.

- Bakwan kepiting: the soup was bland, as were the pork-and-crabmeat balls. The julienned bamboo shoots were nice and crunchy. Needs more improvement for this dish.

- Babi Pongteh: very nice, full of flavours - definitely the *best* rendition of this dish I'd tasted in Singapore.

- Assam fish: Not as assertive (in terms of spicing) as the version I get in Guan Hoe Soon (my fave traditional Nyonya restaurant), but the pomfret fillets here are very fresh, and I liked the way the baby okra were just cooked, leaving a nice snap to each bite, and the aubergines were meltingly-soft. Very light, refreshing version.

Going back there again tomorrow, FourSeasons - this time bringing my Baba-Nyonya friends from the Peranakan Association. They were a bit skeptical about the modern-take on traditional Nyonya flavours, especially in the desserts. But I'm Peranakan-Baba myself, and I liked those - so trying to convince my friends. Wish me luck - some Baba-Nyonyas are such traditionalists.

I posted that just below - we were there on 9 Sep. We all thought the ingredients used were great, but the cooking was blander than what we're used to having. I surmise Candlenut's cooking is more Nyonya-inspired than "authentic" renditions such as those we get in Guan Hoe Soon, Peramakan or Peranakan Inn, all of which I'd actually prefer over Candlenut's.

I read that the chef is a Baba and his Peranakan mum helps him conceptualise the dishes. But they've added their own touch to the dishes. We (Eurasians) are the same, no two families' Feng or Curry Debal are the same, and we sometimes have our own family's peculiarities. For example, in my family's Feng, we add pureed dates for a sweet taste, but we know of no other Eurasian families who would do the same.

ah cool, i knew i recognized the name. i tried to eat at Candlenut Kitchen, but then found out it was closed last time i was in singapore. i need to go eat some nyonya food next time im there, been a long time since ive had any

Went about a month ago and had a pretty disappointing experience, so I'm surprised by the many positive comments for Candlenut. We had:* Sous vide beef rendang - Nice tender texture but the beef appeared to have been cooked separately from the rempah so the meat had no real flavour to it.* Bakwan kepiting - Bland* Assam fish curry - Fish wasn't fresh, we skipped eating it entirely. The assam tasted pretty flat too, like it came out of one of the seasoning packets sold at NTUC and was just reheated. The lady who came back to clear the table for dessert noticed that we hadn't eaten any of the fish curry and rather quizzically asked us if we forgot about it, which I thought was a mildly puzzling query.* Chap chye - First time I've had crunchy cabbage in chap chye. Normally chap chye is stewed but the vegetables didn't absorb any flavour from the seasoning and were unpleasantly crunchy, so I'm not sure how they cooked it.

The steamed banana cake dessert was pretty good though. We actually went expecting decent food (have eaten at Candlenut at its previous location around Duxton when the menu was different, it was ok) so it was quite disappointing that the food was that bad. But now I'm really puzzled why we had such a bad meal when everyone else seems to have had good experiences..